


Old Soldiers

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Fluff, Growing Old Together, M/M, Old Married Couple, Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-24 17:01:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21621382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: Going into exile alone would be the worst possible fate. Lucky for him, Hevy's got someone at his side.
Relationships: CT-782 | Hevy/99
Comments: 10
Kudos: 22
Collections: Star Wars Rare Pairs Exchange 2019





	Old Soldiers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thedevilchicken](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedevilchicken/gifts).



The galaxy was a terrible place for an old soldier. Truth be told, it wasn't that great for anyone else, but Hevy was indulging some self-pity today. Another anniversary: Echo's death this time. When they'd been cadets, no one had told them old soldiers scrawled out the dates on their calendars to mark the fall of every friend. He and his brothers didn't think they'd live to become old soldiers. Every clone in his squad was going to send himself out covered in glory, his last breath given to defense of the Republic. Looking back, even the ones who'd died believed they had given their lives that way had sacrificed themselves for a bitter sham and a cause none of them had known was false. Today was another damn day with another damn anniversary of another damned man who didn't understand the truth of why he died.

"You're up early."

"Couldn't sleep," Hevy said. "Did I wake you?"

"Once." Hevy went to apologize, but 99 said, "It's fine." Slowly, and with a halting care that worried Hevy more than he wanted to say out loud, 99 took a seat next to him. "It's Echo's day, right?"

Hevy nodded. "He was a good man, a good soldier, and a good brother." It was what he always said. It was the only thing he could say.

99 had his own tradition. He closed his eyes. "I remember when he was a cadet, he and Fives snuck into the mess one night and stole all the jogan fruit that was supposed to be for breakfast the next morning."

"I remember that." They'd brought their haul back to the rest of the squad, and they'd all eaten themselves sick. They'd been caught when they tried to dispose of the evidence. He hadn't thought about that night in years, but trust 99 to hold onto the memory among thousands of others. Clones had been designed for battle. Whatever genetic shift had resulted in 99's batch, and their subsequent unsuitability for combat, the same alteration had opened an unprecedented capacity in 99 for recalling the details of his brothers' lives.

The first of this world's three distant suns peeked over the horizon. 99's eyes were still closed, and he smiled under the thin, warm light.

Memories of the jogan fruit made Hevy's stomach rumble. "I'll get breakfast." He stood and stretched before offering a hand. "You've got that appointment at first noon."

99 finally opened his eyes and fixed Hevy with an unhappy stare. "I don't like that droid."

"I don't like him either." Medical droids were thin on the ground on this world. They could move closer in, pick a nice Mid Rim planet with better care facilities, but every time they talked about packing up again, they both found their eyes searching out more distant worlds, far from the Empire's immediate reach. The scar on Hevy's brow twinged when he even considered going back. 99 had never needed the surgery, another quirk of his genes, but of course he'd always carried his worst scars on the inside.

Their creation had been of terrible purpose. The Jedi used to say even the most terrible purposes served the will of the Force from a long enough perspective. A clone's lifespan was never meant to accommodate a long-term outlook, and the wretched truth of why the clones had been made had destroyed those Jedi. But the Force had spared Hevy, given him a chance for freedom from his dire destiny, and when he'd fled, the loss of friends and faith behind him, he had not wandered into exile alone.

Hevy cracked three tala eggs into their heatpan, stirring in the spicy powder 99 liked. They were getting low. He should pick up another supply while they were at the outpost today. While the eggs cooked, he warmed yesterday's leftover bread.

"I can get that," 99 said, but Hevy shrugged and gestured to the chair.

"You can make dinner, but only if you tell the droid about your chest palpitations."

"I was dehydrated. I'm fine now. Are _you_ going to tell him about your hip?"

Hevy didn't answer. He'd had a bad moment last week, that was all. 99 needed regular care to keep him well and active. Hevy was nearly thirty years old. There wasn't much medical care could do to stop him from aging, other than the grimly obvious. "I'll tell him at the same time you tell him about your problem," he said as he stirred the pan, and enjoyed the mild surprise on 99's face.

He divided up the eggs and bread and set the plates down. After they ate, Hevy scrubbed the dishes while 99 swept up. Back at the beginning, when Hevy had returned to Kamino with mad ambition and asked 99 to run away with him, he'd filled his words with the broken romantic ideas he'd picked up along the way. He'd sworn 99 would never have to pick up a broom again. Like a lot of his ill-designed intentions, that had fallen along the wayside, but 99 didn't complain.

"It's all right," he'd said, the first time Hevy had come home to see he'd already finished cleaning. "I didn't walk away with you because I was tired of sweeping."

"I promised you a better life than what we had," Hevy had replied, with a sinking heart.

99 had looked around, and given a shrug in that way he had. "You're here with me. That's the best life I could ever dream of."

They'd never made things formal, not even when they'd reached a world where the local magistrates didn't known clones couldn't legally marry, but looking back, Hevy always counted that day as the one. On his endless mental calendar of crossed-out sorrows, one date was underlined with joy.

On the bad days, he had to help 99 into the speeder, but the new medicine was helping, and he climbed in today without assistance, a proud smile on his face as he strapped in. There had been a time back when Hevy was a green cadet when he'd thought the lopsided twist of 99's face was unpleasant, even terrifying: a daily reminder of what his own batch could have easily become. Sometime in the last fifteen years, 99's smile had become his favorite sight.

They headed towards the outpost, Hevy going over the list of goods they should purchase, 99 staring out the side, watching the stark, beautiful landscape speed by.

"You all right?" Hevy asked, noticing his long silence.

"Just thinking. You said Rishi had this same kind of terrain."

"More or less." He didn't like thinking about Rishi Station. "Why?"

"I think I'd like to see that."

Hevy snorted. "You want to go visit a dark moon with a bunch of rocks?"

"And Saleucami. You said that was nice." The wanderlust was back in his eyes. Freed of his duties, 99 had always wanted to explore the places his brothers had been sent, although they both knew they didn't dare set foot on half those worlds while the Empire ruled them. It was a dream, and one that meant they'd soon be poring over star charts, looking for another new home.

The galaxy was an awful place for a lonely old soldier. For two old soldiers together, it wasn't so bad.

"I'll pick up a map at the outpost today."


End file.
